Acute Coronary

|

Acute Coronary Syndrome

Kandance Thomas

NUR 2235

May 5, 2014

Mrs. Pillar

Acute Coronary Syndrome

Most people have never heard of Acute Coronary Syndrome, but are very familiar with the term “heart attack”. Acute Coronary Syndrome is further defined as “a cascade of symptoms and pathological events that, if left untreated, can lead to injury and necrosis of the myocardium” (Pyne, 2004, p. 558). The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with different information about Acute Coronary Syndrome which are: the historical and future perspectives, statistics, pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, implications for nursing care and cultural implications.

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has been around for centuries and it has taken decades to figure out the known cause of it. It was first discovered in 1879 that Myocardial Infarction (MI) is caused by coronary thrombosis secondary to sclerotic changes; in 1910 postmortem examination confirmed 5 acute MI’s (Nabel & Braunwald, 2012, p. 54). We have now come a long ways with today’s modern science and sense of urgency for this disorder. Hospitals have implemented protocols and procedures for immediate diagnosis if a patient presents to the Emergency Department with symptoms of ACS. For example, patients that are presented to Emergency Department with chest pain are considered high priority. EKG readings are given instantaneously after hooking a patient up, and serum cardiac markers are done to diagnose ACS (Lemone, Burke, & Gerene, 2011, p. 926). But even with these protocols ACS continues to have a high mortality rate.

“Statistics from the American Heart Association shows that approximately 18% of men and 23% of women over age 40 will die within 1 year of having an initial recognized MI” (Kolansky, 2009).

As a nurse, I plan to help lower these incidences by teaching patients non pharmacological methods such as...